Myth: Students with ADHD use it as an excuse to get out of work
In this video, Deiera Bennett explains why ADHD isn’t an excuse for avoiding work. What looks like laziness is usually a real neurological barrier, and supports like movement breaks, chunking, and time cues are necessary accommodations that make learning accessible.
Transcript
Students use ADHD as an excuse to get out of work. I heard this myth a thousand times as a teacher, and if I'm being honest, I wondered if it was true. But here's what I learned: For students with ADHD, what looks like laziness or not wanting to do the work is usually something else like overwhelm, trouble with motivation, or executive functioning challenges that make it hard to start, plan, or follow through.
The student isn't making excuses. Their brain is truly hitting a barrier. Think about it this way, if a dyslexic student needs, uh, to use text to speech, we wouldn't call that an excuse because we recognize that they have a very real need for support. ADHD works the same way. Movement breaks, chunking tasks, time cues - those are not special treatment. They're supports that make learning possible. The next time you see a student struggling, don't assume they're just avoiding the work. Assume that they need support to access it.
On socialcipher.com, we have a list of 95 IEP accommodations for students with ADHD as well as autistic students. It's a great starting point for figuring out different ways that you can better support your students.
Follow us @socialcipher on TikTok and YouTube for more educator-focused videos about neurodivergence!
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